🎵 Science of Creating a Playlist

If you want to create the ultimate playlist for any type of event (like weddings), you need to know a few things other than playing a list of songs.

What is the easiest way to support my Newsletter or Podcast? Give a rating/review of the podcast on your favorite podcast platform. You can also give a review of the newsletter/website on Google. Thanks!

---

Welcome to the latest Issue of the Wedding MusicLetter.

This past week I was asked to create an uplifting playlist for a charity event of hospitality superstars. This got me thinking that maybe my process may benefit you.

How To Create A Playlist

While creating my uplifting playlist, I was thinking about the process I used to create the playlist and how it was assembled and finalized. I also thought this would interest you more than just giving you a playlist.

Why? Because playing music for an event is more than just pressing play on a list of great songs.

You have to think about:

• What are the client’s needs?

• What is the vibe you want?

• Who are you playing music for? What are their demographics and music preferences?

• How does the music flow from one song to the next with energy (not mixing talent)?

• When selecting songs, are the songs selected familiar to the listeners?

In today’s example, the music is meant for background music and mood setting, not for dancing. The music is for setting a vibe and relaying a message.

CLIENT’S NEEDS

In my example, the event’s theme is “uplifting”. The event was for a charity so a theme for rising up and overcoming obstacles was desired. The expected timeframe of the party is 3 hours. Thus, I knew it was going to be about 50 songs in full play.

In addition, the organizer wanted a couple of songs about flying. So, I added a few flying-centric songs to the playlist.

Demographics

Next, I knew the party-goers would be a mix of backgrounds and ages. Thus, a collection of songs needed to be from many different eras and genres.

I had about 20-30 songs already in my head. Then I researched music that was about a phoenix rising from the flame and feel-good music that would fit the theme and vibe for the event to add to the list.

Now I have 50+ songs to play and all I need to do is add them to Spotify and hit play! NOT SO FAST!

VIBE and TEMPO

I think we have all had a monotone professor in school that bored us to tears or made us sleepy. The same can be said for playlists. If the songs are all slow or all mid-tempo songs, you will rock your guests into a comatose. You must offer surprises to keep them on their toes and not have every next song expected.

Because my playlist is not for dancing, I didn’t need to have dance sets at certain BPMs (Beats Per Minute) to maintain to keep the dance floor packed. That being said, a good flow still needs to be kept.

FLOW

My goal was to intermix slow songs and gradually increase the tempo until I hit a peak with an upbeat track and then drop it again to another slow song. Slow songs were chosen because many hits with an uplifting message were slow songs that I wanted to incorporate into the playlist.

The flow of slow to fast I think also creates an unexpected soundtrack to keep attendees attentive to the music because there was not any specific era, or genre that was played. Many sing-along hits in all tempos are included too for making the music interactive.

After completing the process of organizing the songs into sections of slow to fast, I next considered the eras. I wanted to start with more classic songs in the beginning and then move to newer generations through the night in theory.

I hope describing the process I used to create this playlist helps you in creating your playlists! If you have any thoughts, please share them in the comments.

Test

Even after I thought I had it all perfect, I listened to the playlist while out for a few walks. I still changed the order of one or two songs because the momentum felt off. So, before playing your songs for any event, be sure to listen to the list in its entirety to verify it creates the expected atmosphere!

MY UPLIFTING PLAYLIST

Total Play Time: 3 hours, 30 minutes

I marked the songs that I call slow song resets on the playlist.

1. Lovely Day by Bill Withers (mid-tempo)

2. Come Fly With Me by Frank Sinatra

3. Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da by The Beatles

4. I Got You (I Feel Good) by James Brown

5. Walking on Sunshine by Katrina & the Waves

6. Rocket Man by Elton John (slow reset)

7. Three Little Birds by Bob Marley

8. I Won’t Back Down by Tom Petty

9. Keep Your Head Up by Andy Grammer

10. Fly Away - Lenny Kravitz

11. Smile by Uncle Kracker (slow reset)

12. Fight Song by Rachel Platten

13. Just The Way You Are by Bruno Mars

14. Break My Stride by Matthew Wilder

15. Titanium by David Guetta, Sia

16. Tubthumping by Chumbawamba

17. True Colors by Cyndi Lauper (slow reset)

18. We Are Young by fun., Janelle Monae

19. Unwritten by Natasha Bedingfield

20. What Makes You Beautiful by One Direction

21. Fly Like An Eagle by Seal (slow reset)

22. You Gotta Be by Des’ree

23. Mr. Blue Sky by ELO

24. You Make My Dreams (Come True) by Hall & Oates

25. Happy by Pharrell Williams

26. Don’t Stop Me Know by Queen

27. Rise Up by Andra Day (slow reset)

28. Everywhere by Niall Horan, Anne-Marie

29. Dreaming by Marshmelo, P!nk, Sting

30. The Best by Tina Turner

31. Believe by Cher

32. This Is Me by The Greatest Showman Cast (slow reset)

33. December, 1963 (Oh What A Night) by Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons

34. Girl On Fire by Alicia Keys

35. Roar by Katy Perry

36. Unstoppable by Sia

37. The Climb by Miley Cyrus

38. Don’t Stop Believin’ by Journey

39. Have It All by Jason Mraz

40. Good To Be Alive (Hallelujah) by Andy Grammer

41. Cover Me In Sunshine by P!nk, Willow Sage Hart (slow reset)

42. I Got You by Michael Franti & the Spearhead

43. Hall of Fame by The Script, will.i.am

44. On Top Of The World by Imagine Dragons

45. Can’t Stop The Feeling! by Justin Timberlake

46. Halo by Beyonce (slow reset)

47. Diamonds by Rihanna

48. Good Day by Forrest Frank

49. Pocketful of Sunshine by Natasha Bedingfield

50. A Sky Full Of Stars by Coldplay

51. You Say by Lauren Daigle (slow reset)

52. Don’t Worry Be Happy by Bobby McFerrin

53. I’ll Be There by Jess Glynne

54. 911 by Teddy Swims

55. Brighter Than The Sun by Colbie Callait

56. Boogie Shoes by KC & the Sunshine Band

57. A Little Less Conversation by Elvis Presley, Junkie XL (I live in Vegas)

Final thought. Everyone has their own style of playing music and favorite songs. My goal is to give you some structure so that any playlist you create has a philosophy to the order instead of just a random order of hits. Whether or not you believe in my sequencing of tracks, we can all agree it comes down to how the crowd reacts!

Click reply if you would like to connect.

Matthew Campbell (Founder, My Wedding Songs)